Gear head for freezers



May 17, 1938- J. w. TOWNSEND GEAR HEAD FOR FREEZERS Filed May 29, 1937 Patented May 17, 1938 PATENT OFFICE GEAR HEAD FOR FREEZERS James W. Townsend,

Winchendon, Mass, as-

signor to The Alaska Freezer Co, Inc., Winchendon, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 29, 1937, Serial No. 145,472

Claims.

This invention relates to ice cream fr'eezers'and particularly to the driving mechanism thereof.

It is the general object of my invention to provide a new and improved gear head for an ice cream freezer, so constructed that it may be economically manufactured and that it will be reliable and satisfactory in use.

With this general object in view, my invention relates to certain features of construction and to certain arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is'shown in the drawing, in which Fig. l is a sectional side elevation of a portion of an ice cream freezer embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a bearing projection on the gear head casing;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the bevel gear which drives the dash or beater;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view thereof, looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a bottom View of a gear support and retainer, looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the bevel gear which drives the freezer can; and

Fig. 7 is a partial plan view, looking in the direction of the arrow 1 in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown my invention embodied in a freezer comprising a tub iii, a can or cylinder II and a dash or beater l2, all of which parts may be of any usual construction and in themselves form no part of my present invention. I

The tub I0 is provided with a pressed steel cover plate [4 which is seated and secured in an annular recess inthe top edge of the tub. A gear head casing (Figs. 1 and 7) is mounted on the cover plate I4, which casing is closed at the 7 top but open at the under side adjacent the cover plate.

A post or support 2| projects downward within the casing 29 to engage the cover plate l4, and

a depending projection 22 provides an inner bearing for a drive shaft 23 on Which a handle or drive pulley (not shown) may be secured.- An outer bearing 24 is provided in one end portion of the gear head casing 20.

An annular conical depending projection 36 (Fig. 2) provides a bearing support for an upper bevel gear 32, which gear is provided with a conical recess 33 which is a loose running fit on the conical projection 30. The gear 32 has the usual square opening 35 in its lower portion to receive the square upper end of the shaft 36 by which the dash or beater. I 2 is rotated.

The gear head 20 and bevel gear 32 are commonly formed by casting, and the tapered or con- 5 ical construction of the projection 30 and recess 33 facilitate the making of smooth and accurate surfaces, so that these parts require no machine operations, such as reaming or facing, to provide a free runningfit.

A lower bevel gear 40 is provided with a hub portion 4| rotatable in an opening 42 (Fig. 5) in a gear support and retainer 44, which member is positioned below the cover plate I4, as shown in Fig. 1. The member 44 is secured by clamping screws 46 which extend through ears 4'! on the member 44 and which also extend through holes or openings in the cover plate l4. One of the screws 46 is threaded into the post 2| previously described, and the other screws 46 are threaded into side portions of the gear head casing 20. The lower gear 40 supports and centers the upper gear 32 and for this purpose has a boss on its upper face extending into a recess in the lower face of the gear 32.

A driving gear 50 (Fig. 1) is mounted on the drive shaft 23 and engages the bevel gears 32 and 40, which gears are thereby rotated in opposite directions.

Having described the details of construction of my improved gear head, it will be seen that I have provided a very desirable combination of a sheet steel cover plate I4 and a cast gear casing 20, and that I have secured these parts in assembled relation by providing the member 44 having clamping screws 46 passing through holes in the cover plate l4 and threaded into portions of the gear casing 20. The member 44 at the same time supports the bevel gears 40 and 32.

I have also provided an improved bearing construction for the upper bevel gear 32, which improved construction permits two separate machine operations'to be omitted, with corresponding reduction of cost.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a freezer, a gear. head comprising a cover plate, a gear head casing mounted thereon and 50 open at its lower face, said casing having a conical depending bearing projection, a bevel gear having a conical bearing recess loosely fitting said projection, a second bevel gear positioned below and supporting said first gear, a gear support and retainer positioned below and supporting said second gear, and means to secure said retainer, said cover plate and said casing in fixed assembled relation.

2. In a freezer, a gear head comprising a'cover plate, a gear head casing mounted thereon and open at its lower face, said casing having a conical depending bearing projection, a bevel gear having a conical bearing recess loosely fitting said projection, a second bevel gear positioned below and supporting said first gear and having means to align said gears, a gear support and retainer positioned below and supporting said second gear, and clamping screws securing said retainer," said cover plate and said casing in fixed assembled relation.

3. In a freezer, a gear head comprising a cover plate, a gear casing mounted above said cover plate, a gear retainer mounted below said cover plate, a lower bevel gear centered and supported by said retainer, an upper bevel gear mounted on and supported by said lower gear and having an inverted conical bearing reces's'in its upper portion, and said gear casing having a conical depending bearing projection on which said recessed upper gear is aloose running fit.

4. In a freezer, a gear head comprising a cover plate, a gear casing mounted above said cover plate, a gear retainer mounted below said cover plate, means to secure said parts together, a lower bevel gear centered and supported by said retainer, an upper bevel gear'mounted on and supported by said lower gearand having an inverted conical bearing recess in its upper portion, said gear casing having a conical depending bearing projection on which said recessed upper gear is a loose running fit, and said two gears having coacting centering means by which they are axially aligned.

5. An ice cream freezer comprising a tub having an annular recess in its upper inner edge, a removable cover plate seated in said recess and covering the entire freezer tub, said plate having a central opening, a gear head casing mounted on said cover plate and open at its lower face and having downwardly projecting portions engaging said cover plate adjacent said opening, a set of gears in said casing, a gear support and retainer positioned below said cover plate and enclosing said opening, and a single set of clamping screws extending through said retainer and through said cover plate adjacent said opening and threaded into said downwardly projecting portions of said gear head and thereby holding all of said parts in assembledrelation.

JAMES W. TOWNSEND. 

